Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Reflex Blue
by Voltage Axe
Summary: Rating subject to change. Several years before the events of C.E. 93, the Atlantic Federation had changed its stance towards Coordinators, along with other nations. However, a whole lot had went down behind all of this. Join Team Roman, in their adventures to uncover a horrific net of conspiracies and deceit, in this prequel to Gundam SEED Reflex! Cover art designed by me.
1. PHASE-01: Rogue Winds

**Author's Note: **Hello to those who enjoy reading Gundam SEED fanfics, how's it going? Earlier this month, I had stated that I would be doing two new entries to complement my currently-ongoing story, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Reflex. This just happens to be one of them, and this is purely a prequel to the aforementioned fanfic that I've been working on since March. For those who are wondering if there will be any characters from the second anime series that will show up in this story, I will confirm that there's going to be some of them. However, a few of them will be recurring characters through the entire story, and others will have a cameo appearance in certain chapters later on. In fact, one of them will make the first appearance here in this chapter. With that being said, I hope you enjoy the prequel to _Reflex_!

**Plot Summary: **Several years before the events of _Reflex_, the Atlantic Federation takes a more open stance towards Coordinators, with all other nations formerly under the influence of Naturals to follow as well. What caused these changes that have seen Naturals truly at peace with Coordinators during this one year? In a post-war world full of conspiracies, corruption, lies, and deception, a whole lot more was happening behind all of these events, and could only be told through the eyes of ZAFT's most elite special forces infantry unit, the Specters.

* * *

The sounds of hydraulic-operated metal doors hissed as they slid open, before the light, gentle, pattering sounds of boots were heard, making contact with the wooden surface of the floor. This was, then, immediately followed by the thunderous stomps of heavy boots that entered through the doors and into the room. The doors then slid closed with a more, quieted hiss as they sealed themselves shut.

In the midst of the silence permeating the room, hushed breaths were elicited from the lips of the figures that stood tall. Boots clumped around the wooden floor, quieted significantly than they were when walking. Finally, a deep male voice broke the silence after a few moments.

"_What's the sitch, Commander?"_

Another few moments of silence passed by, before a different male voice was heard; this time, it was from the commander.

"_Last night at around 2300 hours, our contact was last seen engaging a transmission with command central, just a few moments before he fell off the radar. Since then, we've tried to establish a signal with him…so far, no luck."_

A tense moment of silence filled the air, the moment itself taking much longer than it was.

"_Gentlemen, I need all of you to do me a favour: find our contact, wherever he is…whatever his condition, and bring back anything that may be critical to our cause. Can you do that for me?"_

A few quieted breaths emerged out into the tranquil atmosphere of the room, each one of them differing in pitch and volume exerted by different men, followed by a different male voice breaking out in the air and answering the other male's question in his gruff tone.

"_You can always count on us, Commander. We'll do whatever it takes to find this guy, alive or not."_

The commander exerted his breath quietly, before he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"…_Good luck, gentlemen."_

* * *

**Voltage Axe Presents**

_**Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Reflex BLUE**_

**PHASE-01: Rogue Winds**

* * *

Cosmic Era 85.

A time of great political and social upheaval, spurred on by the ever-changing landscape of how the Naturals and Coordinators were intended to live—in peaceful co-existence, without anything that would break away at the binding seams of the societal fabric. However, it all didn't seem to be that way for the past few decades, when society's tolerance on Coordinators was way far different than what it was now. Animosities between the two genetic races burnt greatly in the form of bloodshed, violent conflicts and clashes had occurred during those times. Even worse, _wars_ broke out…especially in the case of the early-C.E. 70s.

These wars were dubbed by the media as the "Bloody Valentine Wars", infamously named after the incident on February 14, C.E. 71, where almost a quarter of a million Coordinators perished from a series of nuclear attacks instigated by the former Earth Alliance. This was the incident that sparked the events of the first war, where peace was not achieved, but hatred and chaos was instead. Two years after that war in particular, another one started with a series of unfortunate events: a break-in on ZAFT's Armory One colony that was later combined with an attempted colony drop of Junius Seven by rogue ZAFT soldiers who were loyal to the ideals of the late Patrick Zala. Soon afterward, destruction and chaos followed, millions of lives lost to the unwarranted fighting between the two genetic races.

By the time the second war had ended, animosities between the Naturals and the Coordinators continued to flare up. Despite the events that transpired into the Third Bloody Valentine War, the Naturals continued to believe that the Coordinators were responsible for forging another war, and vice versa. Bloody clashes continued on, with no true peace having been reached in sight. The post-war conflicts worsened every moment, through the late-C.E. 70s, beginning with the dissolution of the Earth Alliance—and ending with the epic collapse of the Eurasian Federation's economy. It was at this point in time, where one of the most influential figures in recent history…had left the political scene in its entirety.

It was in the latter-half of Cosmic Era 79, when PLANT Chairwoman Lacus Clyne had announced her resignation from the highly-prestigious post she had occupied for long. An eclectic supporter of peaceful ideals, the former "Pink Songstress" made a quick exit from politics, after she was targeted—with prejudice—by those who had sympathized with the Naturals and the ideals that the former Blue Cosmos brought upon them. A few months prior, an attempted assassination was made on her life, initiated by armed radicals that had nothing to do with achieving true peace. Several people were let slain in the process, but Lacus Clyne was not one of them, and yet the overwhelming guilt was just too much for her to take in the burdens that grew. She had no choice but to give up the leadership, one that would bring the true peace amongst everyone that lived.

Right away, fears and concerns were brought up by those who lived in the colonies in space, and those who lived on the ends of the Earth. Who would be there for them to lead the way, for a world without violence and bloodshed? How will they be protected from those who are ill-intentioned enough to cause acts of terror and chaos? Most importantly of all, what will it take to achieve the true peace that all people of both genetic races demand in this world?

The ultimate answers would be dawned before their eyes. Before her resignation from the leadership seat, and PLANT Supreme Council itself, Lacus Clyne announced in a more private capacity, that she would do whatever it takes to achieve peace—by any means necessary. Speaking from the incident that changed her life imminently, her views had also changed slightly, but significant enough to realize that there was much more to do in order to achieve her ideals of a world with true peace. It was then, that she would approve plans to establish a new infantry unit in ZAFT's military ranks that would be highly unique than all others. It was in Cosmic Era 80, that the Specters were fully established as a Special Forces group of highly-skilled men and women in the force. Well-trained, and tasked in infantry combat that utilises covert tactics, the Specters were the unit deployed in times when international peace is threatened in the interests of PLANT and ZAFT.

The results of Lacus Clyne's creation yielded in monumental success, both strategically and offensively. Operations were carried out with the best intelligence provided from ZAFT's main intelligence agency, and from Terminal as well, at the discretion of the new administration. Over the next two years, radical Natural and Coordinator movements were disbanded by the covert spec-op infantries, hunting down those that wanted to bring violence to the world. Later on, most of the operations were expanded in ceasing the supply and flow of illegal weapons that would have fallen into the wrong hands. By Cosmic Era 82, all remaining elements of hostile Blue Cosmos belligerents and other radicals that sympathized with either genetic race were all eliminated, in part from the sweeping operations brought out by the Specters themselves.

Throughout the rest of the early-C.E. 80s, the long-term effects were felt from the decisions and the actions that the Specters made to reach the goal of true peace on the planet. Without any interference from the radical groups that cropped up through the past few decades, that goal became true over time. The leaderships of nations that favoured Naturals in the past began to fall, paving way for new administrations that embraced more open policies towards Coordinators. These political changes themselves led to a society that previously looked down on Coordinators, transformed into one that had now seen Coordinators as less of a threat than what was perceived in the past. True peace was finally accomplished in the world.

* * *

**March 10, C.E. 85  
****Siberia, Russia, Eurasian Federation  
****0700 Hours**

That was the world truly to be living in, at least, to those who had seen the changes…and that includes the few men who journeyed through the freezing depths of winter's lands.

Harsh crunching sounds were made in the air as boots stomped down on snow, as four men in arctic-patterned combat suits trudged through the ankle-deep snow in blustery conditions.

Temperatures were way below the freezing point, and it was an understatement to say that they were, when the strong winds began to factor in towards the more-than-chilly temps of the arctic climate. However, these four men in particular were not at all afraid of the deathly cold conditions in their way. In fact, they were braving the cold with all their might, their special combat suits having been intended to face such an environment they were in.

As the four hiked their way up a slight incline of an icy slope, they could hear crackles of static pierce through their headsets, before a male voice buzzed through their ears.

"_Roman. Come in, Roman," _the voice of a man spoke out. _"What's your status, over?"_

One of the men in front of the group, adorning UV-filtered goggles, had pushed down on his earpiece with two fingers to communicate back.

"Roman here. We are en route to the contact's last known position, about a couple of kilometres away from where we are. Over."

Another few crackles of static emitted over their headsets, before the same voice broke out again.

"_Affirmative. Please be advised, we have picked up hostile signatures tracking along the contact's last known whereabouts from the north-west. Be careful out there, Roman."_

"Roger that, Command," the man leading the pack responded gruffly. "Over and out."

He then turned his head to the rest of the group behind him.

"We may have company expecting us soon, so let's keep our heads up while we can. Stay frosty, gentlemen."

The male marching right behind him, equipped with the same goggles and other combat gear, had scoffed loudly at his notion.

"You wish!" He sarcastically remarked. "Especially with what we're dealing with here."

"Stow it, Raf," the leader of the group retorted. "I don't like dealing with the cold too, but we have to follow the Commander's orders."

"Yeah, Adams is right, man," the third male in the pack agreed. "It's pretty much our obligation to follow through and do what the Commander says, whether you like it or not."

The infantry soldier second in the group then turned back to the other soldier behind him.

"Just because he's right, Snowden," the soldier brusquely replied back, "doesn't mean he's actually right all the time. I'm just saying, that's all!"

"Alright, cut the chatter, men," Adams interrupted the argument with a hint of irritation in his voice. "We're only here to locate the guy, and get anything important he might have on him. No horsin' around."

"Yeah, I got it," Raf grumbled quietly as he followed Adams through the ice and snow.

Snowden let out a quiet, but derisive laugh, before he turned to the last man in the group behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the man dressed in his combat suit, but with a snow-white cloth covering his face, and wearing UV-filtered shades instead of goggles. The man behind Snowden only gave him a confused expression, raising both his eyebrows at him.

The team of four travelled for so long, until they had finally reached the location of where the contact was allegedly there before disappearing off the radar. The winds had died down considerably, while Adams scanned the area around them, as they stood on a snowy slope that declined at a slight angle. The other members of the group also searched around, treading away a metre from each other as they looked hard for where the contact may have been.

"What the hell, man?" Raf looked around, left to right. "Where is this guy? He should be right around here, _somewhere_."

"Keep looking," Adams commanded sternly. "There has to be a sign that he's here somewhere."

It was then that Snowden found a sign of where the contact was. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted what appeared to be a piece of coated fabric material sticking out from a large clump of ice and snow.

He turned around to call out for his teammates. "Hey, guys! I think I found him!"

Adams called back in response. "Where do you see him?"

The other three men came to the soldier, before Snowden pointed at the direction of the fabric jutting out from the clump of snow.

"There! Right beneath all of that ice."

Raf gave Adams a concerned expression on his face. "You sure he isn't dead already, Boss?"

"I hope not," he sighed deeply, taking in the soothing cold air as he inhaled. "At the same time, 'though, I highly doubt he's alive."

Raf nodded his head lightly. "Well, let's go dig up. See if we can salvage anything."

Adams nodded back, before the four men began to pile away the snow and ice that formed the clump that settled onto a declining slope. After digging away at the piles of snow with their gloved hands, Adams let out a quieted gasp of fear as he froze up, the sight in front of his eyes giving him chills down his spine…much colder than the frigid air itself. The eyes of the other three men were widened open, also reacting in the same way Adams did, as they discovered what became of the missing contact.

Uncovered from the piles of snow, a male body was laid down on the jagged, icy rocks of the slope, dressed in its winter jacket and matching pants. Devoid of all life, the body showed the severe effects of the freezing cold on the human condition, the skin becoming a much paler white. In addition, there were patches of blue all over the skin on his arms and face, signalling the first stages of frostbite. Based on the positioning of his arms and legs, the deceased contact had reacted to something that he couldn't have avoided—whether it may be gunfire directed at him, or anything that came after with a different weapon of sorts. The former possibility was much more verified than the latter, as the group discovered a large bullet hole having pierced through the man's left side of his chest, having opened up his winter jacket and exposing the flesh covered by blood that was now solidified by the cold.

Adams exerted his breath deeply a few times, slowly regaining his composure while the other men watched on. He then turned to them after staring down at the frozen corpse for a moment.

"Guys…I have a bad feeling about this."

Without warning, the sounds of a helicopter's propellers approached in the air from behind them, getting louder before a fixed-wing aircraft blew ahead of them. The four men ducked as the helicopter swooped down on them, as it banked to its right and flew off into the distance behind a small mountain. Adams could make out the chopper having a distinct jungle-patterned camouflage scheme on its exterior, identifying it in his mind as a light-assault transport chopper. The four soldiers then quickly got back up standing on their feet, before they looked around at the skies above them.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Raf asked incredulously in a sharp tone of voice.

"Most likely an enemy chopper," Adams looked around at the skies before he turned to him. "They're probably going to find us out if we don't move quickly. Let's go find what this guy has, before we're made."

His reluctance put aside, Raf and the other two men searched the dead man's pockets on his jacket for any important belongings he may have. After they all turned up empty, Adams dug his hand in the jacket and began to search the inner pockets of the man's apparel. Having felt something solid, Adams reached it out from the jacket's right inner pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be a clamshell case the size of his palm extended outward. Opening up the case with his thumb, Adams fished out an object that turned out to be a microchip, along with a flash drive embedded underneath the piece of silicon. Closing up the clamshell box, Adams stowed the pieces of interest in a compartment of his combat suit.

Out of nowhere, a man dressed in darkened military fatigue spotted the four men ahead of him, and shouted angrily in Russian. The group of four immediately turned their bodies around, before they avoided a burst of gunfire coming off from the semi-automatic rifle drawn out by the hostile male. Some of the shots had broken away at a few large blocks of ice, the rest of it giving way to reveal a path deep in a crevasse down below. The fourth man in the group, the cloth covering away at his nose and mouth, instantly drew out his machine pistol with a suppressor attached to its barrel. He fired back at the hostile gunman.

The enemy rifleman gave out a pained cry as he fell onto the snowy terrain on his back, the bullets having pierced through his midsection and torso. Snowden cursed, followed by Adams, as they all knew that the sounds of guns being fired off had alarmed every hostile that was now coming their way.

Adams reached for two narrow strips of carbon metal from his backpack, attaching them to his boots with lockable bindings. The other three men also reached for their ski gear and equipped them as fast as they can. More shouts of Russian echoed off from their north-east, getting louder as all four of them got their skis fully equipped.

"Let's cheese it, guys!" Adams shouted. "Follow my lead! _GO!_"

He then glided off down the slope using the poles held on both hands, while the others followed him down as well. More shouts of Russian came from afar, echoing towards the four soldiers that broke away from the scene. Adams cornered to his left, dropping down from a 25-metre fall onto the snowy path lined by icy walls on both sides. Stumbling slightly, Adams managed to get himself balanced as he continued down the path, with his squad-mates right behind. Hostile gunmen situated at the tops of the glaciers fired down on the four men below with their semi-automatic rifles, while other gunmen on skis also shot away at the soldiers with their guns as they glided down the snow.

Avoiding the bullets that kicked up bits of snow and ice around them, the white-suited soldiers moved down the path before their leader took a sharp cut to his left, the rest of the group following him.

Static popped and hissed over their headsets, before the frantic voice of the head operator entered the airwaves.

"_Roman, Command! What's going on down there?!"_

"Hostiles are on our tail, Command!" Adams responded over his headset. "The contact's been iced, but we've got what you're looking for!"

"_Roger that! Chopper's on its way for extraction; E.T.A., 15 minutes!"_

"Copy!" Adams acknowledged. "On our way to extraction, over and out!"

"Hey, Boss!" Snowden hoarsely shouted from behind. "How're we gon' get these bastards off of our six?!"

Adams looked to his left, before turning slightly to face Snowden from the back. "Curve out to the left!"

Shredding out piles of snow as he carved a turn, the leader of the pack led them down a steep decline of a slope, where they withstood every bump downhill. Gliding onto a flat surface full of flaky ice, Adams continued to curve to his left, before taking another bumpy hill down the mountain. One of the Russian gunmen on skis attempted to go after them down the steep slope, but had instead collapsed and tumbled down the hill from the lack of control around the bumpy surfaces. Adams and his group jostled around another large set of bumps and uneven surfaces as they went down further, the team leader having lost control of his footing after making the landing down on another flat surface. He tumbled over before getting himself back up on his ski-mounted feet.

Likewise, Snowden rolled himself over as he made a hard landing onto the flat grounds of snow.

"Ahh, damn it! Shit!" He cursed as he picked himself back up.

"Son of a _bitch, _man!" Raf also cursed out, after he tumbled over a couple of times from the bumpy hill.

Out and away from around a couple of mountains, the enemy helicopter reappeared, firing off a few missile rounds as it swooped down upon them. The four men narrowly avoided the incoming missile rounds, as large chunks of snow and flakes of ice blasted skyward in the air around them.

"Move, _MOVE!_" Adams shouted hoarsely at them. "_LET'S_ _GO!_"

Crackles of static burst through their headsets, before the head operator entered the airwaves, just as the four men glided downward whilst avoiding missile fire from the hostile chopper.

"_Roman, this is Command!" _The head operator blared out. _"Are all of you okay?!"_

"Yeah, we're alright, Command!" Adams responded at his loudest, before he jostled at the sound of a missile exploding right behind him. "I don't want to alarm you, but we've also got an enemy bird in the skies!"

"_Copy that! We're sending in back-up right now!"_

"Negative, Command!" Adams replied back. "We can take care of this one on our own, I swear!"

"_Are you sure about that, Roman?"_

"If I didn't tell you that, then I wouldn't be!"

Having missed the rounds of missiles fired by the enemy gunship from above, the group of four soldiers took a right, before they entered down a flat, declining slope at a steep angle. The chopper passed by them, before they blew over four hostile gunmen on snowmobiles. The gunmen on snowmobiles received instructions over the radio from the pilot inside the chopper, before they set themselves off to go after the four men. The hostiles on snowmobiles made their way towards where the four men were headed, before they stopped and got out of their vehicles as they attempted to cut them off.

As the four men on skis evaded the hostile men behind them, they began to spot the armed gunmen behind the orange snowmobiles to their right. Bursts of gunfire blew by them, causing them to flinch and tumble over a few times to avoid being hit by the bullet rounds coming from the hostiles ahead. Their ski equipment thrown off and away, the four men rose back up quickly before they engaged in a firefight with the gunmen by the snowmobiles. Drawing out his suppressed handgun in a flash, Adams fired a few well-placed shots that took down one of the four hostiles from a long range. Snowden scrambled to his right, firing away at another hostile with his light sub-machine gun. Raf also fired as he crouched, with the last man in the group firing from behind him to the right.

The three remaining hostiles were all dispatched by the four men, as they rushed towards the snowmobiles and boarding them. The motor engines of the winter vehicles revved loudly in the air, before the four men driving the snowmobiles headed out to their right, continuing down the path towards extraction.

Barrelling down the steep slope at a high rate of speed, Adams could spot a group of gunmen on snowmobiles to his right, with more of them converging from his left.

"Hostiles on our three and nine!" He shouted at his squad-mates behind him.

Bullets were fired at the four men travelling down on their snowmobiles, avoiding enemy fire as they zig-zagged along the hill sloping downward, firing back at them when they had the chance. A couple of gunmen on snow vehicles lined up in front of Adams, before he fired his pistol at them, taking them out as the hostile snowmobiles veered off-course and tumbled over and out. The team leader then adjusted the knobs on his snowmobile's control panel in front, turning on the radio and raising the volume up. It was then that the song playing over the speakers, happened to be an upbeat tune that sounded more like surf rock.

It was "California Girls" by The Beach Boys that happened to be playing on board the snowmobile Adams was riding in.

"Aww, dammit," he grumbled quietly before sighing deeply to himself. "Oh, the hell with it!"

More shots rang out in the air, as the three other men tried to fend off the hostiles that rushed behind them on snowmobiles. Snowden fired his sub-machine gun at a hostile riding on one to his left, successfully taking him out, as the gunman's snowmobile collided with a stationary tree and exploding in flames. The last person of the group trailing behind the three men also shot at the two hostiles who were to the left and back of him. A third hostile on a snowmobile rammed into him from his left, the assailant trying to knock him off the vehicle as he swung his fists at him. The white-suited man with shades then blocked a thrown fist from the hostile, before he blindsided him with an uppercut to the face, causing the hostile to fall off his vehicle and tumble out to his demise. The man with shades focused back on the sights in front, before he swerved and drifted around a large tree stump that he would've collided into.

Raf gave a loud holler of excitement, before he jumped his snowmobile off of a ramp of hardened snow, landing hard onto an unlucky hostile on a vehicle that was in his way. Following a loud, sickening crunch of bones breaking beneath Raf's snowmobile, the gunman gave a blood-curdling cry of pain as Raf managed to get his snowmobile off of the back of the deceased gunman's winter vehicle.

He laughed as soon as his vehicle touched the snow again. "Gotcha, _sucker!_"

Evading the small group of hostiles that remained, the group of four men on snow vehicles made their way towards the extraction point, which was down to their left.

"_Roman, Command!" _The head operator patched in. _"How much longer?"_

"We're just five minutes away from the L.Z.!" Adams replied back, before turning his head to look back. "So far, I don't think we have to worry about any more hostiles coming after us!"

"_Roger that, Roman! Just try to get yourselves still in one piece!"_

Suddenly, the enemy gunship that previously tried to attack the four men had reappeared in front of them, off to their far right. The chopper came in fast, swooping down on the four men below before it rose up and turned around.

"Hey, our buddy's comin' back for more!" Snowden remarked snidely. "Let's be sure he doesn't have a third-rounder!"

The co-pilot aboard the hostile chopper shouted in Russian, pointing down at their targets below. The pilot of the gunship fired the rotary gun mounted below the nose of the helicopter, the spattering of bullets catching up with the four men riding down the hill with their snowmobiles. Narrowly missing the bombardment of heavy bullet rounds, some of them had penetrated through the engine of the snowmobile Adams was riding on, thick and black smoke billowing out from the motor inside.

"Oh _shit_," Adams cursed. "Bail out! _BAIL OUT!_"

Adams then leapt away from the moving snowmobile as it caught fire, tumbling over and over before landing safely onto a soft embankment of snow. The snowmobile he was on then exploded into a fury of red, orange, and yellow, sending pieces of it everywhere. The chopper above continued to fire streams of bullets at the other three men on their vehicles, the bullet rounds also having struck through the engine blocks of the snowmobiles they were on. Right away, Adams, Raf, and the other soldier jumped off their moving vehicles and rolled themselves over to land safely on the snow. The three snowmobiles exploded as well, as all four men managed to get themselves up fast, just when the chopper fled away from the scene. Coughing up bits of snow in his mouth and spitting all of it out, Adams brushed himself off before he was joined by his other three squad-mates.

"Dude…Adams!" Snowden exclaimed as he approached him. "What're we supposed to do now?"

Adams faced him with a slight grin on his face.

"Hope you guys brought your back-up gear."

The team leader then reached for a black board of carbon fiber behind his back, before he set it down and attached the bindings to his boots. The other three men then did the same, equipping the snowboards they had carried on their backs.

As two hostile gunmen in dark combat gear skied their way towards the top of a slope to locate the destroyed snowmobiles, followed by another two sentinels behind them, they were taken by surprise in the form of Raf sailing up the inclined slope. Taking out a machine pistol, he fired down on the gunman to his left, before he swung both ends of his snowboard against the other hostile with his feet. Taking out both of them at the same time, Raf curved around and sailed down the same slope, with the remaining two sentinels hot on his heels.

The two gunmen on skis firing away at the men on snowboards with their semi-automatic rifles, they followed them down the steep hill they were on. Adams gained enough speed as he shredded down the hill on his snowboard, before he jumped high enough and sailed over a wooden log sitting next to a tree stump, landing perfectly as he twisted back to his original position. Raf made a half-pipe over the edge of a large ice block, before spinning around and landing flat without falling over. The man with the shades and face cover did a few slaloms around the declining hill, while Snowden gave a hollering whoop as he jumped over an icy ramp covered with snow.

"_YEAH, GET SOME!_" He boldly shouted while doing a 360-degree twist, sticking the landing flawlessly.

Coming down at the end of the declining hill, Adams could see a sizeable body of freezing water ahead. Not taking any chances, he gained enough speed along with the others, before he reached the end of the hill and sailed over the waters.

"_COWABUNGA!_" Snowden shouted excitedly, as he made it through the body of water with Adams.

Raf and the other soldier had also made it through, with the two gunmen on skis having sailed over the waters, but had instantly collapsed right through the lake. Both of them shouted in Russian as they struggled to keep themselves afloat.

Getting off of their snowboards, the team of four rushed on foot towards their extraction point, hugging the walls of ice to their left as they did. The hostile chopper then came flying from far ahead to their right, where the co-pilot of the helicopter got out his light-machine gun and swung open the door. He fired a continuous burst at the four men that rushed forward, the group of four avoiding the bullets that blasted bits of snow and chipped away ice from the barriers of glacial chunks to their right. The pilot of the chopper then ascended the air vehicle upward, as he made another run at the soldiers on the ground.

Adams panted heavily as he got up on his feet, firing at the chopper with all he had. Pulling away at the spent magazine in his gun, he looked around all over himself to see if he had any remaining ammunition left.

"I'm all out!" He turned to the three men behind him. "Any of you got some mags?"

"Fresh out!" Snowden shouted as he searched for any remaining magazines on himself.

Raf inspected the magazine that was previously inserted into his weapon. "Got a few more on this clip!"

The man with the shades gave a shook of his head, indicating that he didn't have any spare ammunition on him.

"Dammit!" Adams cursed out. "All we have, is just a few bullets on us?!"

"Well, don't blame me!" Snowden retorted. "We weren't even supplied with enough ammo, especially at a time when those suits at the top are slashing the damn budget, for those damn fleet of ships!"

"Hey, wait! Hold up!" Raf signalled to them, as he reached for his bag. "I think I've got something!"

He searched through his bag, before he pulled out what appeared to be a flare gun. "I've been saving this thing up for emergencies."

"Where the hell did you get that?!"

"Don't know where, don't know how!" Raf answered, before he tossed it at Adams. "Catch!"

Adams caught the flare gun, before he ducked down from the bullet fire coming from the enemy chopper that made its sweep by where they were. The others had also hid behind the thick wall of ice that protected them from the incoming fire.

"Yeah, you better do something about that chopper, or we're all dead meat!" Snowden bellowed at Adams.

The team leader gave a loud growl of anger, as he popped his head back out at the same time the chopper had ascended upward. A hazel-coloured seed dropped in an abyss from the back of his eyes, before it bounced up and exploded into a series of "1s" and "0s" that rushed rapidly in a stream, outward from the impact. Time and motion slowed before him, as Adams aimed precisely at the chopper's open doorway, before he fired an orange flare at it. The flare leaked out a trail of orange smoke as it directly sailed through the open doorway, and bounced off of a wall, before it landed under the feet of the pilot.

The speed of time and motion returned back to its normal pace, as Adams could see thick orange smoke gathering up inside the canopy of the chopper. The pilot and co-pilot were in hysterics as they struggled to see what was going on through the windscreen, as the thick orange smoke was everywhere. The chopper swerved violently, diving down and hitting the icy ground before bouncing back up. Alarms wailed over the canopy as the helicopter flew out of control in the air. Screams of panic continued from the pilots of the chopper, right before the helicopter had blindly ran into the wall of a glacier, the gunship exploding into thousands of pieces as it slammed into it.

Raf and Snowden gave wild shouts of excitement and euphoria, as they saw the burning remains of the chopper hitting the ground and the water.

"_OHHH YEAH!_" Snowden hollered. "_RAISE A LITTLE HELL!_"

"You got 'em, Boss!" Raf added. "Great job!"

Adams could only muster a laugh as he grinned. "Yeah, I saved all of you guys."

Crackles of static buzzed through their headsets, before the head operator patched in again.

"_Roman, Command. What's your status, over?"_

"Command, this is Roman," Adams responded as he relaxed for a bit. "We're all accounted for; the enemy bird's done as dinner."

"_Glad to hear that," _the head operator acknowledged. _"We're getting you guys back home, our bird should be there to pick you up any second now."_

"Yeah, roger that," the team leader replied, as the sounds of propellers fluttering came from behind them, getting louder as it got closer.

Not before long, an olive-green transport chopper came exactly to where the four soldiers were. They waved at the helicopter in the skies, as it slowly descended down to hover right beside them. The door gave way, as a ZAFT soldier on board the chopper helped them up and onto the seats of the aircraft. Once all four men were on, the chopper lifted itself up and away from the mountains of Siberia.

* * *

_**Seven hours later…**_

**March 10, C.E. 85  
****ZAFT Military Station (Headquarters)  
****1400 Hours**

The four soldiers stood before a closed metallic door that hydraulically opened with a hiss. Stepping through the open doorway, they entered a dimly-lit room where they slowed to a stop before a table fixed to the floor. On the other side of the table was a man dressed in his black-and-white ZAFT commander uniform, fulfilled by the gold markings on the black sections of his suit, and adorning a matching peaked cap that covered the top of his head. The commander stepped forward towards the table, away from the shadows to reveal his locks of brown hair, his purple irises gazing upon the four men who came towards the opposite side of the table.

The four men in their regular military T-shirts stopped accordingly, before they saluted to the white-suited commander.

"Commander Yamato," Adams greeted quietly.

"At ease, gentlemen," Kira responded back with a salute, before putting his hand away.

Lowering their hands away to end their salute, the four men stood tall and still, Adams being the first to speak as he looked down upon what was on the table.

"What have we got, Commander?" He asked, looking at the classified documents and photos of persons in question, before tilting his head up slightly.

Kira raised his head to face Adams in the eyes. "It's definitely something that we now know all this time."

Adams gave him a stern look in his eyes, his facial expression remaining indifferent from the last.

"Our contact, a veteran field agent, was to look into suspicious activity perpetrated by a splinter group operating within the far-eastern part of the region," Kira explained. "Although details are very murky in identifying this group and its connections, it was alleged that this group was carrying a stockpile of highly-advanced technological components used in the creation of dangerous weapons, having been sourced from a high-profile technology firm."

"You mean that microchip we had found over there?" Adams asked.

Kira nodded. "Unfortunately, as all of you have already found out by going there, our contact was long gone before he can even return to us," he spoke in a dejected tone, resting his finger on the greyscale portrait of the field agent, the red stamp on top reading out 'K.I.A.'

"May Haumea be with him," the commander sighed deeply, as the three men behind Adams stared down in silence.

Adams raised an eyebrow. "So this microchip…and anything we may had found, what importance do all of them have for this mission?"

"That's where the pieces of the puzzle starts, gentlemen," the brunette commander elaborated. "Intelligence has it that this technology firm, based in the outskirts of Paris, is doing secret deals behind closed doors."

He elaborated further. "They're allegedly sourcing electronic components to black-market dealers, handing over pieces of silicon to the wrong hands in exchange for money," he paused. "This is no ordinary firm that's working in an industry like this."

Adams concentrated on him, as he continued to speak.

"Up until now, we had no substantialized claims that they were undergoing these types of transactions with these third-parties," Kira stated. "However, thanks to you, we were able to retrieve a heavy amount of data from the flash drive that was recovered off of the agent. We can confirm these claims through e-mails, invoices, and notes made between the group and the company that sourced them."

Adams queried. "This means we have look into that company, sir?"

"Affirmative," Kira answered before he outlined their new tasks. "Intelligence suspects that there will be another deal about to happen, and it's up to all of you to find out who is the client for that deal."

The commander then laid down a finger on the greyscale portrait of a man in a formal suit. "This is the highest-ranked executive of the company, Nicolas Luther. Mid-30s, married, and is believed to be the person responsible for the majority of those deals. All of you are to look out for him in monitoring everything going on with the upcoming deal."

"What about the client, Commander?" Adams questioned.

"After when the deal is reached between the parties, follow the client, and make sure he does not get away. Retrieve him, _unharmed_," Kira stressed the word, "otherwise we will never know where further this will take us to."

"Understood, Commander."

"I want all of you to remember that this is a recon mission," Commander Yamato sternly reminded. "We cannot afford to mess this one up. The deal is said to start in the next 24 hours, so good luck out there."

"Yes, sir," Adams nodded with confidence.

"Dismissed, gentlemen."

_**To be continued in PHASE-02: "Beyond Limits".**_

* * *

**That's the end of the first chapter! Honestly, I could tell you that there have been a few certain movies and video games that have influenced this beginning chapter of the story. It is especially when the Specters are in Siberia to retrieve a microchip from a fallen agent. Bonus points for those who can tell which movie I am referring to! Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter…this is Voltage Axe, signing off!**


	2. PHASE-02: Beyond Limits

**Author's Note: **Hello guys, and how are all of you doing? I'm actually doing quite fine lately, having gone through a month being in second-year of university already. Anyway, here's the second chapter of the prequel to _Reflex_! Before I begin, I just want to thank those who have given the original Reflex a chance, and to those who have read and supported this fanfic as well! You guys are the best! I know that some of you have a great desire for a whole lot of action in these types of stories, so I actually will let you in on a special treat for this chapter. With that being said, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Voltage Axe Presents**

**Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Reflex BLUE**

**PHASE-02: Beyond Limits**

* * *

**Suresnes, France, Eurasian Federation  
****March 11, C.E. 85  
****1420 Hours**

A blue sports utility vehicle sat idle at a parking lot that was next to an industrial facility. At the opposite side of the two-lane roadway, were the front doors of the head office belonging to Luther Industries. Four men were seated inside the S.U.V., waiting for anything that would occur at the driveway that was in front of the doors. They were all dressed in their ordinary clothing other than their combat uniforms, the only exception being that they had fitted themselves with bulletproof vests underneath their casual clothing. Adams, sitting in the front passenger's seat, peered through his binoculars as he scanned the area around the front of the head office buildings. So far, nothing yet.

Raf let out a prolonged deep sigh, as he relaxed onto the driver's seat, fluttering his lips away.

"Hey, how much longer, man?" He turned to Adams. "It's already past two in the afternoon, and nobody's turnin' up."

"Just hold your horses, Raf," Adams sternly asserted as he continued to scan the area around. "They may show up here at any moment, so let's keep a lookout."

"I mean, what if the Commander's wrong?" Raf queried. "What if they just already cancelled the deal, or they pushed it off to a later time? We'd just be here, wasting away days for nothing!"

"I seriously doubt it," the team leader answered. "The Commander wouldn't have given us the wrong intel, and besides, everything else points out to this place here with the exact time."

"I'm just saying, man," Raf pointed out. "There's no telling what's gonna happen."

The four men inside the vehicle continued to stay in their usual spots for the next half-hour, lying in wait over what was expected to come down. It was only until then, that when Adams was about to put away his binoculars, he began to spot something coming into the picture from the corner of his eye. Raising up his binoculars again, he maintained a visual on what appeared to be a grey, two-door coupe slowing down on the road from Adams' right. Trailing behind the small, grey car, were two larger sports utility vehicles that followed it as the coupe entered the driveway.

Adams lowered his binoculars, before he turned to Raf. "Are you getting this?"

"Sure did, Boss," Raf nodded, before he reached for a wired handset. "Command, Roman. Come in, Command."

"_Command is here,"_ the head operator responded. _"What do you see, over?"_

"We have spotted a grey coupe headed to the meet, along with two S.U.V.s of the same colour," Raf hushed as he communicated over the radio. "That matches the description of what the C.E.O. drives."

"_Has the client arrived yet?"_

"Negative, Command. We are still waiting for him."

Adams scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, before he put up his binoculars again. Through the viewfinder, he could make out the men that emerged from the grey S.U.V.s parked along the driveway, all clad in military fatigues and toting semi-automatic machine rifles. He then turned his focus towards the ginger-haired man that emerged from the two-door coupe, dressed in his light-black formal suit with matching trousers, as he stood outside the vehicle with the armed men right behind him.

Raf turned to Adams. "Damn, this guy's got some fine security around him, even for someone who makes millions a year!"

"I don't get it," Adams sternly frowned, confusion in his tone of voice. "These aren't the same guys who provide security detail for him! Not in those pictures, at least."

"Keep watchin'," Raf hushed up. "I see something coming up from the left."

Focusing his attention towards what Raf saw from his left, Adams tracked his sights on a black S.U.V., with two other vehicles of the same type and colour behind it. The three sports utility vehicles made their way onto the driveway entering from the left, before they all stopped along the lane and in front of the entrance to the buildings. Peering through the binoculars continuously, Adams zoomed in on an individual that made his way out of the leading S.U.V., all clad in dark clothing along with the armed men behind him that were also in the same apparel of the same colour. He put his binoculars down, an expression of concern was marked on his face, gritting his teeth lightly at the sight of everything in front.

"Command, this is Roman," Raf hushed as he reported to the head operator. "We're picking up on the sights of both the client and the executive. Looks like the deal's happening right now!"

"_Roger that, Roman," _the head operator responded, before warning the team. _"Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Remember that we need the client alive!"_

"Copy that, over and out."

Adams fixed his sights at the front doors of the place, where the armed men on both sides gathered along the driveway, standing in tow as the client and the executive of the company approached each other. Steadying the binoculars, the team leader could see the two men greeting each other by shaking their hands with one another. They talked for a few moments, followed by the client letting out a laugh, before they continued to converse with the other. Not before then, the ginger-haired executive was handed a black briefcase from one of the men in military fatigues, opening up the briefcase to show his client what was inside. Adams could see the face of the client light up in a greatly-impressed expression, before the client received a black briefcase from one of his men, and opened it up to reveal unmarked paper bills of green to the company's executive. Accepting the offer, the black-suited man handed over the briefcase to his client, before he received the briefcase containing the money inside.

Adams sighed. "So far, so good."

Out of nowhere, two white sports utility vehicles sped up from the opposite sides of the roadway, before they screeched to a stop.

Adams tensed up at the sight. "What…_the hell?_"

In a flash, the doors swung open fast enough, before a rapid series of gunshots were heard from the vehicles. It happened so fast for Adams, that he dropped his binoculars in an instant.

"_Get down! All of you, get down, now!_" He raised his voice a bit at his squad mates, as they all ducked below the dashboard.

In an instant, bullets pierced through a few armed men on both sides, as they went down without firing back. Nicolas Luther, the man in the black suit, was also caught in the crossfire. Blood splattered all over the place as the executive's body flopped down onto the pavement, after an array of bullets punched through every part of him. The armed men that remained, had taken cover behind the vehicles and returned fire at the occupants inside the vehicles. It was then that out of the bushes lining the ends of the complex, flashes of men clad in black dusters emerged from them, zipping towards the driveway. As the client panicked and rushed into his S.U.V. with the briefcase in hand, the men in the black coats dealt with the armed sentinels, swift and deadly.

Sharp blades hacked past their necks, knives slashing across their throats, all of the armed personnel collapsed in a bloody heap. The client managed to maneuver his way past the driveway and onto the roads again, avoiding the bullets that struck his S.U.V. as he fled the scene. As they had entered a few moments ago, the men with dark-coloured dusters and cloth around their mouths rushed to the S.U.V.s parked along the driveway in a series of flashes, before they drove off and after the client. The two white vehicles had also joined them in the chase.

Poking their heads out from ducking underneath, the four men exerted their breaths before they whipped their heads around.

"What the hell just freakin' happened, man?" Snowden shouted.

"I don't know!" Adams reacted in response. "But it looks like some people crashed the deal, and the client got away!"

"Not to mention the executive got wasted!" Raf snidely remarked.

Adams turned to Raf. "The client went away to the left, let's go after him!"

Punching the acceleration pedal as soon as the ignition started, the rear tires on the blue S.U.V. spun before the car took off from the parking lot in a trail of smoke, as it followed the path of where the client and the other S.U.V.s were.

"Shit, I knew this was gonna turn bad really fast!" Raf angrily snarled.

"Well, it's about get even worse with these men after him!" Adams remarked as he reached for a sub-machine gun from underneath his seat.

Snowden reached for a steel briefcase from the trunk of the vehicle inside, opening it up to retrieve a semi-automatic carbine rifle, and several clips of ammunition. Likewise, the fourth man sitting next to Snowden had pulled out a combat shotgun from underneath the rear seats. As Raf darted through the roads at a blazingly fast speed, the blue S.U.V. began to approach the white and black S.U.V.s that chased after the client in his own vehicle. Weaving around the traffic in his way, Raf managed to get the blue sports utility vehicle right beside one of the white S.U.V.s on the lane to their left.

The hostile sitting in the passenger seat of the white vehicle took notice of the sight to his right, rolling down his window to see Snowden in the left-rear passenger side, rolling his window down as well.

"_HEY, YOU!_" Snowden shouted over at the hostile male, sticking his middle finger out at him. "_STOP THE CAR!_"

"What the freaking hell are you doing?!" Adams angrily yelled at him. "Don't flip him off, _HE HAS A GUN!_ _SHOOT HIM!_"

Snowden then drew his carbine rifle out the open window, before he shot at the tires of the white S.U.V., the impacted vehicle veering off and out of control. Tumbling over and over a few times, the vehicle exploded into flames as it landed onto its wheels.

"_WHOOO-OOH!_" Snowden hollered as he pulled himself back inside the vehicle. "Only a few more to go!"

Static hissed and popped as the head operator buzzed out from the radio. _"Roman, this is Command! What the hell is happening over there?!"_

"Command, the client's getting away!" Adams shouted back over the handset. "Deal went south, C.E.O.'s shot up to _SHIT!_ We're chasing him down the freeway, along with some unknown hostiles…they're dangerously armed!"

"_Make sure you do NOT let him slip off from the cracks! He's our only lead to this investigation!"_

"Hey, Boss," Raf breathed out as he pushed the blue S.U.V.'s engine even harder than before. "Just so you know, we're a few miles away from town!"

"I don't care!" Adams barked out, before he focused onto the next hostile vehicle. "Concentrate on the damn roads!"

The blue S.U.V. sped up to catch the rear bumper of the black jeep in front. Adams poked his head out of the front passenger window to open fire on the hostile vehicle. Bullets deflected and bounced off of the car, as the two hostiles seated inside the black S.U.V.'s backseats returned fire at the undercover soldiers, shooting through the rear windshield that broke apart in shards. Adams managed to get himself inside the blue vehicle again, reloading a spent clip on his sub-machine rifle. The fourth man sitting at Snowden's right, adorning his shades and a cloth covering his mouth, leaned out through the open window and fired a blast from his combat shotgun. The left-rear wheel of the black S.U.V. exploded into shreds, leaving behind a trail of yellow sparks.

"Way to go, Ando!" Adams hollered, as the blue car managed to get right beside it to its left.

Adams opened fire on the driver of the hostile vehicle, taking out both the driver and the passenger of the four-wheeled machine. Raf then slammed into the side of the black S.U.V., causing it to veer to the right and head-on into the back of a slow-moving sedan. The totalled S.U.V. then rolled over a few times and skidded on its side to a smoking stop, as the blue S.U.V. kept on going, barrelling through the stretch of paved concrete.

"I see him!" Adams pointed at the armoured S.U.V. in the near-distance. "Right there!"

Raf steered the vehicle and manoeuvred around the traffic in front of him, weaving around a host of trucks and other cars that were in the way. As he managed to get around an 18-wheeler in front, Adams could spot the armoured S.U.V. turning away from the freeway and onto an exit towards the streets of a town, with the two remaining hostile vehicles still behind.

"Damn it, he turned off from the highway!" Adams cursed.

Distracted by that account, Raf diverted his attention towards the fleet of three vehicles that drifted around to the left and away. Not realizing that the Specter driving the vehicle had lost his focus, Adams whipped his head to the left and saw a fork in the freeway that divided the rest of it from the exit onto the streets. Ahead was a makeshift ramp constructed out of a gravel mound, and Raf was going to drive into it, unknowingly.

"Raf!" Adams hysterically called out. "Hey, _WATCH THE ROAD!_"

Raf then turned his focus back to the sight through the windshield, before his eyes widened open as big as saucer plates. The blue S.U.V. jumped the gravel ramp at well over 120 kilometres an hour, the terrified Specters letting out the exact, same scream of terror, as they found themselves sailing high up into the air.

"_OOOOHHHHHH SSHHHIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!"_

All four of them then braced for impact, as the blue S.U.V. managed to land onto the very top of an empty auto-transport semi-trailer towed by a moving tractor, before it jumped away and landed harshly onto the pavement. The four soldiers shaken up by the landing, Adams turned to Raf, giving him a nasty look on his face.

Raf let out a sheepish laugh. "I'm just too pretty to die! _WHOO!_"

The driver had let out a holler of excitement, as he continued to pursue after the hostiles and the client. Far ahead, the client in his vehicle tried to shake off the pursuers in his rear-view mirror. He drifted around the corners of the streets, doing his hardest to lose them from finding him, but to no avail. Suddenly, as he turned his head back to focus on the road in front of him, he could see a pickup truck coming across the opposite road of the intersection. The dark-clothed male tried to stop his vehicle, but it was too late. The armoured S.U.V. ran straight into the side of the truck, t-boning it head-on. It was then ran into, by a bunch of civilian vehicles that lost control, that couldn't react in time to what was happening right in front. Finally, the two hostile S.U.V.s collided with a few of the civilian cars and trucks, the clad-in-black men rushing out of the vehicles and firing away at the armoured S.U.V. caught in the pile-up.

Screams and shrieks of terror erupted in the air, as the locals milling around the intersection panicked and sprinted away from the scene of chaos unfolding before them. Some of the civilian drivers inside their cars within the pile-up were unlucky, as stray bullets struck them in the head and elsewhere. Glass broke apart while spatters of blood were stained all over the windows, as the men in dusters shot at the armoured vehicle ahead. The client inside his vehicle cursed loudly, as he tried to get his vehicle unstuck from the wreck behind him. He backed up and rammed into a station wagon, before he rammed into the side of the truck again as he accelerated.

Speeding down the road, Raf took out a semi-automatic pistol from a driver's-side compartment, cocking the hammer down.

Adams began to freak out. "Oh _shit_, Raf!"

"Here we go, guys!" He prepared them. "Get ready for this."

As soon as he got closer towards the hot zone, Raf spun the S.U.V. clockwise, the vehicle coming around in a 360-degree circle before he fired his handgun at the first hostile in front of him. The hostile male in his duster turned around and shot back, before being taken out in a hail of bullets as he flew aback onto the hood of a car. Barging out of the blue S.U.V., the four men fired their weapons at the hostiles before scrambling off to different positions behind cover. Some of the hostiles returned back fire, while the others continued to focus their shots at the armoured sports utility mobile that was still entrapped.

Metal crunched against metal as the client cursed angrily even more, slamming his car back-and-forth against the two vehicles in between him. Sirens wailed in the air, before the bright, flashing blue lights of police vehicles moved in to the scene. Two police cars screeched to a stop at the left of the pile-up ahead, before the lawmen burst out from the doors and yelled in French and English at the hostile gunmen, their handguns drawn. Before they knew it, they were clipped down in a blast of bullets coming from the men in dusters who shot with their high-powered assault rifles. Thunderous bursts of gunfire continued to fill up the atmosphere of the usually peaceful streets, as Ando managed to get a shot on one of the duster-wearing men with his combat shotgun, the hostile going down on his stomach and flat on the pavement.

Adams made a series of shoulder rolls to his right, scrambling himself behind a dented mailbox, while Raf fired a series of bursts at the gunmen next to him. The team leader frantically pulled away at the magazine fixed to his firearm, before he tossed it away and called out at Raf to supply him a new clip.

"_MAG!_"

Raf instantly reached for an unused magazine fitted on his belt, before he tossed it to Adams, who skillfully caught the clip of ammo with one hand. Jamming in the magazine into the slot, Adams pulled at the charging handle before he poked himself out of cover and fired at the engaging hostiles. One of the gunmen in dusters collapsed forcefully from the amount of sharp projectiles passing through him. Snowden avoided the gunfire coming from a few of the hostiles, the incoming rounds breaking away the driver's side window of the blue S.U.V. as he crouched under it.

"_**GET THE WORLD DOWN HERE!**_" He bellowed out.

The client continued to desperately get his vehicle unstuck from the chaos happening literally right behind him, as he plowed his S.U.V. back and forth against the station wagon and the truck. One of the men in dusters took the opportunity of his other fellows fighting against the four undercover soldiers behind them, as he snuck up to get right close at the client's vehicle from the back. Climbing up onto the hood of a car, the male hostile leapt onto the roof, before he made a brazen jump onto the roof of the station wagon. Out of the client's rear-view mirror, he could spot the hostile gunman drawing out his rifle and shooting out the glass of the rear windshield. Reaching for a pump-action shotgun with a vertical foregrip on it, the client cocked the pump slide of the weapon, before he fired it backwards. More glass shattered away from the rear windshield, before the hostile shooter flew aback from the roof and lay dying.

Punching away at the acceleration pedal, the client was able to free himself as he pushed away the pickup truck with his sports utility vehicle, driving away from the scene in the process. Shouts of anger came from the hostile men in dusters, before they barged through the pile-up of totalled vehicles, and ran off ahead. Shell casings dropped onto the concrete, as they fired their assault rifles at the policemen that rushed into the scene on foot, striking them down along with a few more civilians that remained in the area.

Adams poked himself out again and fired, before he noticed the client getting away.

"Client's ran off again!" He called out to Raf and the others. "Let's go!"

The four soldiers immediately scrambled back into the blue S.U.V., before Raf took the car and drove off to a different path to get to the client. The remaining hostiles in full-length coats ran towards an occupied tractor towing a semi-trailer loaded with empty cars and trucks, just parked near the sidewalk. Swinging open the driver-side door of the trailer harshly, one of the hostile men dragged the driver of the truck and threw him down onto the pavement with great force, before he boarded the driver's seat. Another had boarded the passenger's seat, while a few others made their way onto the top and bottom levels of the auto-transport semi-trailer, a couple of them hanging onto the sides. The hijacked tractor-trailer began moving, ramming away at a few parked cars before it made its way through a detour to get to the client as well.

The tractor-trailer bulldozed its way through a bunch of yellow water barrels, sending clear liquids everywhere in the air and ground, before it rammed a small hatchback out from the roads. The 18-wheeler gained more speed as it began to catch up with the armoured S.U.V. on the motorways. A few kilometres away, the blue S.U.V. revved its engines loudly as Raf floored the acceleration pedal even harder, the car blowing past slow traffic as it made its way towards the back of the tractor-trailer.

"C'mon, Raf," Adams growled as he loaded his sub-machine gun. "We can't afford to lose him!"

"_This is what I do!_" Raf snarled back.

Raf held the acceleration pedal down to the floor as the S.U.V. was pushed beyond limits, racing past the multiple vehicles on the freeway. The hostile sitting in the passenger's seat of the moving tractor poked himself out of the open window, before he fired multiple bursts at the armoured vehicle in front. The client cursed loudly, as he continued to weave around the traffic in his path. Sirens erupted from behind the tractor-trailer and the blue four-wheeled vehicle, as more police cars joined the chase.

The tractor-trailer commandeered by the hostiles had mowed down a few vehicles in its path, causing Raf to swerve around them sharply as they all slowed to a stop. As the blue S.U.V. began to have caught up with the back of the tractor-trailer, a couple of the hostiles hanging around the lower-portion of the trailer had fired their assault rifles at the chasing Specters, blowing out one of the S.U.V.'s headlights in the process.

"_AWW, C'MON! Shit, shit, and d'ahhhh—MAN!_" Raf cursed out. "_I could've shot that mother—dammit, holmes! Shot the HELL out of that headlight!_"

The couple of gunmen aboard the lower-portion of the trailer continued to open fire at the blue S.U.V. going after them, as Adams returned fire while leaning out through the window.

"_C'mon, Adams!_" Raf roared out. "Shoot back! Shoot, _SHOOT the hell outta him!_"

The team leader focused his fire on the individuals that exchanged bullets with his sub-machine gun, before the tractor-trailer slammed into another sedan on the road, causing the S.U.V. and a few other police cars to veer around it. One of the police cars got close to the back of the trailer from the right lane, the gunmen having unloaded clips of bullets on the pursuing vehicle. The police car veered out of control as its driver was riddled with bullets, before it was run into by another police cruiser.

Static crackled and hissed, before the head operator blared out from the radio. _"Heads up, Roman! We've picked up radio activity from the Eurasian authorities, and they're sending in G.I.G.N. reinforcements!"_

"Dammit, that's the one thing we don't need!" Adams exclaimed angrily.

Suddenly, more bullets were fired at from behind the blue S.U.V., as there were blue and white minivans packed full of men clad in armoured gear with semi-automatic rifles. A few of them poked themselves out of the open windows to fire at the four Specters and the hostiles aboard the 18-wheeler. Snowden and Ando avoided the incoming fire from behind as best as they can, before they shot back at the Eurasian counter-terrorists inside their vehicles. As he concentrated very hard on the roads, Raf tapped a switch on the dashboard that opened up the sunroof of the S.U.V. they were in. Snowden then poked the top-half of his body out from the open sunroof, before he fired his carbine rifle at the pursuing G.I.G.N. personnel aboard the minivans. One of the few bursts of bullets managed to pop out a flat tire on one of the minivans, as the vehicle spun out of control and collided directly into a guardrail of the highway.

Angry shouts came from the hostile men aboard the semi-trailer, before one of them fired their guns to break away at a chain holding one of the empty cars in place. Another gunman used the most of his strength to push down the car off from the trailer, the wrecked vehicle being put in place as an obstacle on the freeway for the four soldiers and the police after them. Raf swerved the S.U.V. sharply around the stationary obstacle, before a police cruiser ran straight into it, causing another cop car to fishtail violently and flip over.

"Oh, these guys are off the chain!" Adams snidely remarked.

Another empty car was sent off the trailer by the hostile men, a civilian coupe running into it head-on, before the blue S.U.V. manoeuvred around the totalled obstacles on the roadways. The hostiles continued to send another empty sedan away from the trailer, but the car itself was still chained to the semi-trailer, making it a moving weapon used by the gunmen. The tractor-trailer swerved left and right, sending the chained vehicle colliding against the police cars and other civilian vehicles on both lanes, like a pinball bouncing off from the flippers. Going around a taxicab, the 18-wheeler caused the chained car to sail over the taxi and sending it over on its roof, dragging it with sparks flying out everywhere.

"This is some sick shit, holmes!" Raf shouted over to Adams.

"Yeah, it's about to get sicker!" Adams remarked back, focusing his aim on the hostiles.

The dragged obstacle of a wrecked sedan continued to terrorize traffic near it, as it curved left and right, smashing itself against other vehicles that were close by. A minivan carrying G.I.G.N. personnel had caught up with the semi-trailer, before the armoured men fired at the gunmen in dusters. The gunmen fired back, some of the bullets hitting away at the chained car's gas tank, setting the whole vehicle ablaze before it was finally unchained.

"Watch out, _WATCH OUT!_" Snowden cried out, as he focused his sights back on the road in front.

Raf steered the S.U.V. as it went around the flaming obstacle that remained on the roads, before he sped up further.

"Oh, they did _not_ just do that!" Raf growled in anger.

Snowden's eyes were as wide as saucer plates. "_OH, HELL YES, THEY ARE!_"

A hostile gunman on top of the semi-trailer lifted a lever down, releasing one of the empty vehicles from the top portion of the auto-transport carrier. The empty truck dropped down, tumbling over and over in front of all the traffic coming its way, sending debris all over the roads. Snowden hollered loudly as the blue sports utility vehicle managed to get around the flipping wreckage that came its way. A few civilian cars ran smack into the tumbling truck, the truck having landed on top of a couple of unlucky vehicles.

Raf turned to Adams in disbelief. "Did you see that shit, holmes?!"

"_They're throwing cars around!_" Adams blasted out indignantly. "_How could I not see that?!_"

Two hostiles on the top of the semi-trailer then pushed down a coupe with all their might, sending it crashing onto the pavement, where it then tumbled in the way of the pursuers behind them. Raf jerked the steering wheel hard to the right, as the S.U.V. avoided another vehicle that flipped away in in its path. He hollered out terrifyingly along with Snowden in the backseat, Adams giving a shout by himself.

"Alright, enough of that screaming shit!" Adams blared out at Raf. "Just focus on dodging these sons of bitches!"

Another car was dropped down from the two hostiles, tumbling away violently and headed straight for the men in the blue sports utility vehicle.

"Okay, just relax!" Raf shouted over to Snowden.

Snowden could only refuse to think straight, having caught up in the adrenaline rush from all of this. The tumbling sedan flew over the blue S.U.V., the car having sailed over Snowden's head by inches, as he stuck the top-half of his body straight out of the sunroof again. As the flipped car cleared over the vehicle, Snowden put himself back down onto the seats, a thrill shooting past his body as he let out a howling cry of excitement with Raf and Adams.

"That son of a bitch _flipped_!" Snowden yelled indiscernibly.

"Man, that one puckered mine up!" Adams shouted out.

"The son of a bitch almost crushed my damn head!"

The tractor-trailer continued to pursue after the client in his sports utility vehicle, before the hostiles themselves found a way to lose the men and anyone else behind them. Catching up to a tanker carrying a whole load of gasoline at the right lane, the hostile driving the 18-wheeler steered the tractor into the bottom-right side of the tank trailer. The driver lost control of the tanker, before it jackknifed and tipped over to the right, as it spun on its side with the metallic portion of the tank trailer directed at the blue S.U.V. racing towards it.

"_THE TANKER!_" Adams screamed, his eyes bulged wide open.

A hazelnut seed dropped down in an abyss from the back of Raf's eyes, before it bounced upward and exploded into a series of "1s" and "0s" that rushed in rapid streams outward from the impact. Time and motion slowed itself down for Raf to make precise movements of the steering wheel, being able to manoeuvre the S.U.V. around the downed tanker in doing so. Having passed by the tanker, time and motion resumed back into its normal pace, as Raf was able to speed up again to catch up to the hostiles in pursuit of the client.

It was too late for the lawmen inside the police cruisers and minivans, as one of the blue-and-white minivans had slammed into the tank trailer that was now leaking fuel all over the roads. A massive explosion tore through the air, collecting several police cars and vans as towering flames rose out amid the thick, black smoke that billowed heavily into the skies. Any other traffic that remained, had come to a full stop before the flames that engulfed all three lanes of the motorway. The force of the explosion had sent the earth trembling away, the four men having felt the shaking from the floor of the vehicle they were in.

"Oh, man!" The team leader hollered out. "How'd we survive that?!"

"Don't know, man," Raf shrugged his shoulders. "I _really_ don't know!"

Having escaped the police units and the G.I.G.N., the Specters focused in on the hostiles and the client, as the freeway began winding down from three lanes to two. The gunmen on the back of the tractor-trailer continued to fire away at the pursuing sports utility vehicle, with Adams and Snowden firing back at them. Suddenly, white smoke began to pour out from the 18-wheeler's front end, before the engine inside began to chug up. The tractor-trailer began slowing down to a stop, just as the sports utility vehicle blew past it.

"Hey, their engine's stalled!" Snowden looked back. "I think we lost 'em!"

"Good!" Adams growled. "Now we can focus in on the client!"

With no one else in between the Specters and the client, the four men inside the S.U.V. continued their pursuit after the man who had dealt with the now-deceased executive of the company. The freeway had terminated into a regular, two-lane road, but it didn't stop the client—who was now far more edgier than ever before—from keeping up on the acceleration pedal of his jeep. Going past a couple of intersections, and down a few curved turns, the armoured S.U.V. began to pull away from the undercover Specters that persisted in the chase. The blue sports utility vehicle could not catch up to the tuned performance of the male client's vehicle that slowly slipped away from their sights.

"Shit!" Adams cursed, slamming a fist against the dashboard. "He's getting away!"

The client could only give one long look at his rear-view mirror, which was devoid of any men with guns chasing after him, as he rocketed down the stretch of road. He gave a deep sigh to himself in relief as he managed to evade everybody and everyone who was after his blood. Just as he was about to take his concentration back onto the roads in front, a distinct sound of bells ringing repeatedly came his way, before the prolonged wail of a train's horn blew out within earshot. Without paying any attention towards what was in front of him, the client was about to drive right into the path of a fast-moving high-speed train that came from the far-right. The client could only elicit a shout of terror, before he was blindsided by the train that came.

In a matter of no less than ten seconds, the armour-plated sports utility vehicle was in the air, after it was struck by the nose of the train. A few violent tumbles later, the four-wheeled transport ended up on all four of its wheels, but it was now in a more totalled state than it was before. The right side of the vehicle was entirely demolished, as if a wrecking ball had its way with it, having gained enough momentum from a swing. Thick, white smoke poured from underneath the jeep's crumpled hood, while radiator fluid leaked from under the car.

Once the train had finally passed through, the blue S.U.V. had finally caught up with the totalled jeep that sat on the wrong lane, metres away from the railroad crossing. The vehicle had slowed to a stop before the wrecked remains of the jeep, before the four ZAFT soldiers had disembarked the S.U.V. and rushed towards the scene of the accident. Drawing a handgun out, Adams raced over to the driver-side door, before he swung it open with all his might. The three other men also had their firearms prepared, as the team leader managed to get the body of the unconscious client away from the airbag, and out of the door. He carried him gently down onto the flat concrete surface of the road, before he made a brief inspection.

"Client's been knocked out cold," Adams turned to his squad-mates, having checked the male's pulse. "But, he'll be alright."

"Man, can't believe it took a whole load of trouble, just to get this one single individual," Snowden quipped.

Raf took out a radio communicating device, before he pushed down a button on the handset. "Command, Roman. We have secured the high-value target. Proceed for extraction."

"_Copy that, Roman," _the head operator acknowledged. _"Extraction chopper should be here shortly."_

"Roger that," Raf responded. "Over and out."

A few moments later, the sounds of propellers fluttering in the air came towards where the Specters were, as an olive-green transport chopper hovered over the area they were in. The team leader waved over to the chopper as it began to land, and to pick up all four of them and the client.

* * *

Meanwhile, the driver-side door of the tractor-trailer had violently burst open, sending the door itself flying away from the door frame of the tractor. The hostile male in his nightly-black duster had calmly stepped down from the door-less entrance of the tractor, before he had touched ground with his heavy boots of lead. The other few men that remained aboard the tractor-trailer had also gotten themselves onto the concrete lanes of the freeway, before they had approached the man in the black duster. He took a few steps towards them, a stoic expression marked on his face, very devoid of any emotion that would be expressed.

Suddenly, a blue sedan approached them from behind, as it came to a complete stop metres away from them. A male civilian dressed in his plaid dress shirt and blue denim jeans had stepped out from his sedan, a worrying look on his face.

"Monsieur!" The man in his mid-30s had shouted over to them in English. "Are all of you alright? Do you need help at all?"

The hostile male could only stare at him with the same facial expression he had, furrowing his eyebrows irritably, and the cold and deranged stare of his eyes having an effect on the man who only wanted to bring them assistance.

The plaid-shirted man then let out a gasp of threatening fear, as he could see the hostile gunman reaching for a handgun from his holster, attached with a suppressor.

"_No_," the man gasped again. "_NO! WAIT!_"

The French civilian then turned around and began to run away from the group of six, a cry of panic tearing out from his throat, before two shots rang out in the air. He collapsed down onto the pavement with a heavy thud, a pool of blood forming from the body of the male civilian who lay flat on his stomach.

Smoke billowed off from the suppressor barrel of the pistol held in the hostile male's hand, before the man had put away his weapon, and turned to his associates. They all had the same, stoic expression he had, as they stood around him. A series of electronic beeps rang out from one of the pockets of the male's duster, before he reached out for a handset device from there.

Venomous green filled his irises, as the man picked up the call from the handset.

"Negative, sir," the assailant responded in a deep, growling voice. "We have failed to terminate the buyer, along with the seller."

An irritated voice came from the other end of the handset.

"We were held back by four men in a blue S.U.V.," he calmly explained in the same growling voice. "They had nothing much to do with our mission."

The same irritated voice on the other hand, had now became stern instead, as the person on the other end communicated to him.

"Don't worry, sir," the male assailant asserted, a sadistic smile crept up on his lips. "We won't let you down. It's only just the beginning…"

_**To be continued in PHASE-03: "Deep Cover".**_

* * *

**And what an action-packed chapter that was! For those of you who may be thinking about what had been gone into this intense sequence right there, there were a couple of movies and video games that I knew very well from before, and they contributed majorly into writing these kinds of scenes. Bonus points for those who know which movies and video games the scenes were taken from!**

**Final point to make, and that is the fact that there's now new antagonists to be discovered, in the form of these gunmen dressed in dark-coloured dusters. However, they all have special abilities of their own, and they will be the ones to recur later on into the story of the prequel! Stay tuned for more!**


End file.
